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Lot 184
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British Buyers Update New York Firm 10 Letters on Cotton Trade in the United Kingdom. Fantastic Slavery Association!
British Buyers Update New York Firm 10 Letters on Cotton Trade in the United Kingdom. Fantastic Slavery Association!
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Description:

British Buyers Update New York Firm 10 Letters on Cotton Trade in the United Kingdom. Fantastic Slavery Association!

This series of letters to Abraham Bell & Company from companies in Liverpool, England, and Belfast, Ireland, report on the prices of American commodities in markets there, especially cotton, but also turpentine and flaxseed. Many northern shipping companies, including Abraham Bell & Company, purchased southern cotton, grown on plantations by slave labor, and shipped them to England to fuel British textile mills.

This trade made southern planters extremely wealthy but also brought profits to northern shipping companies and buyers and speculators in the British Isles. By the 1850s, southern planters and politicians believed that cotton was king and was a global necessity. By the late 1850s, the American South supplied 77 percent of the cotton consumed in Great Britain, 90 percent of that consumed in France, and similar percentages for the German states and Russia. This trade led Confederate leaders to rely on European intervention in the American Civil War to retain an uninterrupted supply of cotton. However, they misjudged both European antislavery sentiment and the ability of European nations to find alternative sources of supply in Egypt and the East Indies.

As one letter makes clear, cotton dealers were sensitive to any international political events that might hamper their trade. When President Andrew Jackson criticized the French for failing to make reparations for damages to American shipping during the Napoleonic Wars, cotton dealers worried about the possibility of war or other interruptions in trade.

[SLAVERY.] Archive of Correspondence to Abraham Bell & Company, 1835-1853, Liverpool and Londonderry, England; Belfast, Ireland. 10 letters, 20 pp., most 8" x 10". Expected folds; Londonderry letter quite faint; very good.

Excerpts
- Malcomson Bell & Co. to Abraham Bell & Co., January 12, 1835, Liverpool, England:
"We agree with you the Cotton from Mobile will be the best, as generally where there is a plentiful crop or where there is quantity there is quality—and judging from what we have seen of the Virginia we should think fair at Mobile might be better worth ½ ct ⅌ lb more.... You can see all the qualities in NYork & judge of these things for yourselves, beating in mind, in whatever market the quality is best, is the cheapest to buy in."
"The Spinners are keeping out until we have more arrivals for which the wind has been favorable for two days & this afternoon there are 10 ships reported off."

- Malcomson Bell & Co. to Abraham Bell & Co., April 16, 1835, Liverpool, England:
"We wrote you today ⅌ S. America, & can now only repeat, that throughout the week (5 days) the demand for Cotton has been good & very animated, the sales reaching upwards of 30,000 Bales, at an advance of ¼ à ⅜ upon American kinds."

- Crary, Fletcher & Co. to Abraham Bell & Co., June 8, 1835, Liverpool, England:
"We had a kind of Panic in the Cotton Market at the commencement of last week, and prices declined ¼ @ 3/8 pr lb. Confidence however was soon restored, and we have since fully recovered the depression noticed, & resume our quotations of the 30th ulto. The total sales last week were only 3,500 Bags to Exporters, & Speculators, & 8,500 to the Trade, so that we may fairly look for greater activity on the part of Buyers before many days."

- Crary, Fletcher & Co. to Abraham Bell & Co., October 23, 1835, Liverpool, England:
"We regret that owing to our having been disappointed in the expectation of doing better by holding the last 50 Bales, the result leaves us without profit. The Cotton market this week has been a little variable the demand having from time to time increased and slackened, but the total business is smaller than last week, reaching 19200 Bags in all, this includes 2400 Bags for Export. Prices are much the same as they were last week. We have had a larger import for the time of the year, and our stock is now 255,00 Bags."

- Crary, Fletcher & Co. to Abraham Bell & Co., December 29, 1835, Liverpool, England:
"The Presidents message, in our opinion leaves matters much in the same state of uncertainty as they were in before. Had there been no reference to Mr Darton, who we know has left Paris without satisfaction, we should have considered the tone decidedly pacific, but his return without any favourable reply will we think induce the President to use rougher language in his second message.
"We still hope however that no real hostilities either by war, or by non intercourse will ensue."
"the Cotton market is steady to day sales 3000 Bags, and we think that we shall have an active business in January."
In his seventh annual message to Congress, delivered in December 1835, President Andrew Jackson criticized the French government for its refusal to pay 25 million francs for damages to American shipping during the Napoleonic Wars. Although the two nations reached an agreement in 1831, the French Chamber of Deputies repeatedly refused to make appropriations for payments. When Jackson first addressed the issue in his 1834 annual message, the French withdrew their ambassador; in this message a year later, Jackson assured France that he meant no offense but refused to apologize or to permit foreign influence to affect how he communicated with Congress. Soon after this message, the French authorized payments, and the crisis abated.

- J & D Malcomson to Abraham Bell & Son, February 19, 1853, Liverpool, England:
"The accounts by this steamer are generally considered unfavorable to Cotton & we have had a flat market to day. Sales about 5,000 Bales 1,000 on speculation."

Abraham Bell & Company was a shipping firm established in New York City by Irish-born Quaker Abraham Bell (1778-1856). The business operated several transatlantic routes and shipped a wide variety of goods, including cotton and linens. In 1844, Bell changed the name of his company to Abraham Bell & Son. In the late 1840s, during the Irish famine, the company assisted in the transportation of immigrants to America.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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Bid Increments
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$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000